Wave of political terror rises in Ukraine — Russian diplomat

April 17, 2015, 16:58 UTC+3MOSCOWA wave of political terror is rising in Ukraine accompanied by a rapid media campaign of defaming those who express an opinion which falls out of line with Kiev's stance, Konstantin Dolgov says

MOSCOW, April 17 /TASS/. It is time for the United States and the European Union to stop protecting the Kiev authorities and force them to meet their human rights commitments, Konstantin Dolgov, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s ombudsman for human rights, democracy and the rule of law, said in a statement issued on Friday.

"The United States and the European Union, that are in pursuit of their narrow political interests, should stop freeing the Kiev authorities from blame and force them to meet Ukraine’s international commitments in the field of human rights and the rule of law," Dolgov said commenting on a series of recent political killings in Ukraine, including journalist Oles Buzina who was shot dead near his home in central Kiev on April 16.

"Another political killing took place in Kiev on April 16. Ukrainian journalist and writer Oles Buzina was brutally murdered near his home. He was an open and honest person and a true patriot of his country. We present our genuine condolences to his family and relatives and would like to express our sympathy to the entire journalistic community in Ukraine," Dolgov said.

"Another no less sinister crime had been committed in the Ukrainian capital shortly before Buzina’s murder. A former Verkhovna Rada deputy, Oleg Kalashnikov, was shot dead at short range near his home," Dolgov said.

Kalashnikov was known for his sharp criticism of the Ukrainian authorities’ course towards glorification of the Nazis and their accomplices in Ukraine. He also took part in preparations for full-scale celebrations of the 70th anniversary of Victory over Nazism and fascism. A series of strange "suicides" of well-known opposition figures has swept Ukraine in recent months.

"A dangerous wave of political terror is rising in Ukraine accompanied by a rapid media campaign of defaming those who dare to express an opinion which falls out of line with the authorities’ stance," the diplomat went on to say.

"If continued, the political terror may further split the country along national, ethnic and religious lines, and that in turn may result in nothing else but deeper long-term destabilization of the situation in fraternal Ukraine," Dolgov warned.

Anton Gerashchenko, an aide to Ukraine’s interior minister, has said Russian security services could stand behind Buzina’s death. Dolgov denied those remarks as absurd and blasphemous. "I can hardly imagine bigger nonsense coming from the mouth of an official representative of the Kiev authorities," he stressed.

"There is an impression that the authorities in Kiev who seem to be under the influence of fascist national radicals are either unable to stop this series of political provocations or are simply trying to get rid of dangerous political opponents on the ridge of that wave," Dolgov said.

"Anyway, the world community should immediately exert adequate pressure on the authorities in Kiev and make them put an end to the arbitrary rule and impel them to give up their farcical speculations; they should conduct an objective and honest investigation of all crimes committed since the start of the Ukraine crisis, including the tragic events in Odessa on May 2, 2014, and find and strictly punish their contractors and perpetrators," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

It is time for the United States and the European Union to stop protecting the Kiev authorities and force them to meet their human rights commitments, "Dolgov said.

"This is exactly what the leading international human rights activists, journalistic organizations and the UN secretary general have called for in reaction to the horrible murder of journalist Oles Buzina," Dolgov said.

The Coucnil of Europe International Consultative Group in charge of investigation of the Euromaidan events arrived at the same conclusions in its first report published recently.

"We are joining these calls wholeheartedly," Dolgov stressed.

Ukrainian journalist and writer Oles Buzina was shot dead near his home in central Kiev on April 16. He is the author of two books, including "Vampire Taras Shevchenko" and "The Union of Plough and Trident. How Ukraine was Invented?" Buzina stepped down as the chief editor of the Segodnya newspaper in March this year.